


For A Good Night's Rest

by Im_The_Doctor (Bofur1)



Category: Video Blogging RPF, Youtube RPF
Genre: Anger, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Caretaking, Coughing, Dreams and Nightmares, Exhaustion, Fear, Fever, Fever Dreams, Hiding Medical Issues, Huddling For Warmth, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Influenza, Late at Night, Literal Sleeping Together, Medicine, Multiple Selves, Neediness, Overworking, Panic, Platonic Cuddling, Protectiveness, Queerplatonic Jackieboy/Schneep, Sacrifice, Sickfic, Vulnerability, Whump, compassion - Freeform, vigil - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-04-01 12:39:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13998531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bofur1/pseuds/Im_The_Doctor
Summary: Jackieboy does his best to hide the fact that he's sick, but with a doctor who knows him this well, it's not like he can hide it for long.





	For A Good Night's Rest

It could be said that Jackieboy was an early bird who willingly subjected himself to insomnia every night. He poured all of his strength into fighting crime every day and yet he always stayed up into the wee hours, fueled by coffee and Henrik’s good company. They often spent those late nights talking about their day, reading to each other, or sitting up on the roof, admiring the night skies. It was one of Schneep’s favorite ways to spend time with him!

This particular evening, however, Schneep hadn’t even seen Jackie since he’d gotten home. Usually he stopped by the lab to greet him just a few minutes after coming through the door, but no matter how many times he glanced over, there wasn’t any sign of him. It took him almost twenty minutes to appear long enough for a halfhearted wave.

“Hey there, Henrik.”

“Ahh, Jackie!” Schneep called as he looked up from his paperwork, hoping his relief wasn’t _too_ evident in his voice. “Glad to see you back safely…Another day of fighting crime successfully, yes?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Jackie concurred, stifling a cough and then offering a smile that didn’t seem to reach his eyes, though it could have just been the lights of the hall silhouetting him from behind, playing tricks. “Listen, I’m gonna be working in the computer room for the night, so don’t worry if you don’t see me at dinner. I have to follow up on some cases I’ve been tracking and there’s a lot of coding that needs to be done on the Deep Web.”

“Oh…okay.” Schneep blinked a few times, brows furrowing in puzzlement. “Don’t spend too long in there, Jackieboy. Too much crime isn’t good for the brain.”

Jackie huffed lightly and lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. “Don’t I know it…” With that the hero ducked back out, letting the door slide closed behind him and leaving the doctor to stare at it for several more seconds.

It was a rather short hello by their standards but…clearly his friend was preoccupied with everything he had to do, Schneep decided after another moment or two. He still had his own work to finish, so he shouldn’t worry about it.

He had gotten through all of his papers and three chapters of a textbook before Marvin and Chase called him out for dinner. Sure enough, Jackie’s seat was empty and his plate was covered with tinfoil to keep the food warm. Since when had he ever opted to skip a meal to poke around those forbidden sites? Schneep wondered as he ate without tasting it. If there was anything Jackie always wanted when he came home, it was to forget the depravity of the day and spend some time with his family, even if he had to return to business afterward. He didn’t even want a reprieve?

“Was Jackie acting properly when he came home?” he asked, glancing between the plate and the others.

Marvin raised his eyebrows as he swallowed, scraping his plate for the remnants of his green beans. “What d’you mean by ‘properly’?”

Exhaling in exasperation, Schneep pushed his own plate aside. “Was he _strange?_ Was he not himself?”

“Well, he did seem more tired than usual,” Chase recalled. “And he didn’t really say much to us; he basically went straight to his room to get changed. He didn’t bother to shower like he usually does. Why’re you asking? D’you think something’s up with him?”

“I will find out. I’m going to check on him,” Schneep announced, scooping up the covered plate and a fork. “He is still in the computer room?” Once he received the nods of confirmation, he offered a short nod of his own in thanks and then strode down the hall, nudging the door to the computer room open with his hip and slipping inside, already prepared with advice that he had often received himself. “Jackie, you should stop to eat this so you have the—” The advice never fully surfaced, given that Schneep snapped his mouth shut mid-sentence as soon as he laid eyes on its intended recipient.

 _He won’t get much work done like that_ , he mused wryly as he approached the older Ego, who was slumped over the desk with his head pillowed on his arms. Judging by the blinking cursor on the computer, he hadn’t gotten anywhere with his coding before sleep had ambushed him. Sliding the plate onto the edge of the desk, Schneep carefully reached over Jackie’s head to turn off the monitor before looking him over. As endearing as this was, he couldn’t let him sleep on an empty stomach or he’d feel sick in the morning.

“Jackie,” he whispered, placing a hand on his back and then withdrawing it just as quickly, startled by the heat that hit his palm through the fabric of his shirt. “Jackie?” Warily he moved the hand to the back of his neck and then to his pulse point to be definitively sure before gripping his shoulder and shaking him, repeating his name a few more times until he startled awake.

“Wh—? Hmm?” As soon as he lifted his head, Schneep could see how striking his blue eyes were in his pale face, despite being glazed with confusion and fatigue. “Huh? W-What’d you say?” he asked, slightly slurred.

“Your heart is racing and you’re more than feverish! Why didn’t you tell me you got sick?” Schneep questioned accusingly, to which he only received a blank, heavy-lidded stare. Pursing his lips, he pulled the chair away from the desk and took ahold of Jackie’s arm, carefully pulling him upright and taking the brunt of his weight as he stumbled. “Easy, easy there—just lean on me. We’re going to your room, Jackie. Is just a few doors down, okay? That’s it, just the baby steps…”

“’m sorry,” Jackieboy murmured as Schneep struggled to work the handle to his door and support him simultaneously. “Hit me…f-faster than I thought it would.”

“If you had _told_ me, it wouldn’t have hit you at all!” Schneep scolded as he finally managed to turn the knob and get the two of them inside, guiding Jackie onto his bed and watching for a moment as he shivered and curled further into himself. The doctor’s disapproving expression eased a little and he stifled a sigh, glancing toward the nearby closet. “Do you want to change into the nightclothes?”

“Nah…rather just lie down.” Even as he spoke, each word grew quieter as Jackie listed to the side toward the pillows, burying his face in them and exhaling slowly. The long breath turned into a few deep coughs and Schneep definitely didn’t like the sound of them.

“You need medicine first,” Schneep reminded him, hurrying back toward the door. “I’ll be right back; stay awake for me, alright?” It took him mere seconds to reach his lab and cross it to the cabinets on the far side, digging through them for the flu medicine he kept near the back. He only had the daytime stuff, but with the state Jackie was in, he doubted the stimulant in it would do anything to him.

By the time he returned with the pills, a bottle of water, and a thermometer, Jackie was already dozing off again. While Schneep wasn’t too surprised, it bothered him. Out of all of them, he was the most like Jack—he had the most energy, the most vim and vigor and the drive to keep going. To see him like this was concerning, to say the least, but if he needed sleep that badly, perhaps the medicine could wait. He could make a fairly accurate estimate on his temperature through touch, so the thermometer could wait for a little while too. Even so, he didn’t want to leave him, so he snatched a few comics that looked entertaining from the nearby bookshelves and settled on the other side of the bed.

At one point, Chase poked his head in curiously and opened his mouth to inquire, which earned a hasty shushing-and-gesturing session that Jameson would shame them for. Eventually the vlogger understood what Schneep was trying to tell him and pursed his lips in sympathy, glancing between the doctor and the superhero before jabbing a thumb over his shoulder to let Schneep know he would explain to the others. Schneep waved gratefully and Chase offered a half-smile in return, easing the door shut soundlessly.

After reading the comics he had chosen, Schneep glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. It was around Marvin and Chase’s bedtime—nowhere near the time he usually fell asleep, but without his usual late-night partner, he didn’t have any way to entertain himself. Frankly, he didn’t want to do any more work tonight; they _had_ planned on stargazing, but that was out of the question now. Stacking the comics up on the floor on his side, he turned off the lamp, slid onto his back and put his arms underneath his head. Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he let his mind wander, forming patterns out of what he could make out on the ceiling.

***

Schneep had never been a heavy sleeper. It wasn’t just because of the caffeine his bloodstream demanded for him to function properly, nor was it because he was paranoid of what Anti might do to him while he was vulnerable—though both were a factor. The bottom line was that he had just never been able to settle his mind well enough for deep sleep unless he had some outside source to help him, such as a sleeping pill or one of Marvin’s calming spells.

Because he had neither tonight and he hadn’t planned on napping in the first place, his eyes shot open immediately when he felt Jackie twitch beside him, shifting onto his back and muttering in an undertone. Propping himself up on one elbow, Schneep peered worriedly at him. His head had slipped off the pillow, tipped at just the right angle that he could see the sweat matting his hair and the flush in his cheeks. Clearly his fever had spiked in the time since Schneep had fallen asleep; how could he have let that happen? He should have brought some coffee with him on his vigil so he could watch over him properly!

“Don’t…don’t go…”

Jackie’s whisper cut through the darkness and Schneep blinked out of his thoughts, glancing back down at him. He was still asleep and judging by the worry in his voice, he was dreaming.

“Don’t go,” he repeated, his breath stuttering slightly as he turned his head away. “S’too dangerous…”

“No one’s going anywhere,” Schneep ventured gingerly, unsure of what else to say. Should he even be saying anything?

“P-Please…” The hero’s face creased in pain as he twitched, more violently this time, and squirmed helplessly to intervene in whatever he was seeing. “Just—just let me go with you, y’can’t go alone—s’not safe—”

“Shh, shh…everything’s okay, there’s no one in danger.” Schneep tried to sound placating as he hovered a hand hesitantly over his shoulder. He knew that it was technically a bad idea to wake someone having a nightmare since it would take them longer to get back to sleep, but this wasn’t just anyone to him and he didn’t want to see him this way. “Whoever it is, they’re going to be just fine—”

“Let him _die!_ ”

Schneep’s eyes widened at that contradictory statement, hissed much more angrily than any of the others. Jackie’s breath had quickened and his fingers were curling tightly into the bedspread as he tossed his head, his tone and expression melting back into that gut-twisting dread.

“Jus’ let him die, let him die so _you_ can be safe, you’re not worth him…” he moaned. “Don’t try to save him, don’t—” Beneath his fluttering lashes, silver light began to kindle more strongly, casting shadows over his cheekbones as he gasped out frantic breaths. “No, n-no—” The light spread from his eyes to the veins in his neck then, awakening the power in his blood.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, that’s not good,” Schneep realized as his decision was made for him, letting his hand fall to his shoulder and jostle him insistently. “Jackie? Jackie! Wake up now, you need to—”

His friend heard him the first time, the silver fire in his eyes near-blinding in the darkness as they flew open and he choked out a strangled cry, struggling to sit up but barely made it halfway before a harsh coughing fit sent him back down. He immediately twisted onto his side and curled inward, burying his face in the sweat-damp pillow for several minutes until his coughing eased into heavy wheezes.

Once he could breathe again, the energy diffused from his exhausted gaze and he blearily pinned it on his companion, who stared back at him in mingled anxiety and concern. Despite his first instinct, Schneep didn’t move as Jackie reached a shaky hand out, pressing it against his arm, tracing its way up his bicep to the joint of his shoulder and then the base of his neck.

“Henrik?” he croaked faintly.

“Yes, it’s me. I’m sorry for waking you,” he replied, though he didn’t actually regret it in the slightest. Jackie clenched his eyes and lips tightly shut for a moment and his fingertips pressed more firmly into the side of the doctor’s neck, uncomfortable but not painful.

“Don’t be. Wasn’t like I was resting,” he whispered, bringing his knees closer to his chest and tucking his chin in almost childishly.

“You need to take some medicine,” Schneep informed him, shifting to stand but pausing when he found Jackie’s hand closing around his wrist.

“Don’t go.”

It was exactly the same tone as he’d used at the start of his dream, Schneep noted, swallowing hard and then forcing a smile with a good amount of difficulty, patting Jackie’s hand with his own—the one he wasn’t holding hostage. “I’m just coming around to your side to get the medicine to help you. Is just on your nightstand—a very short trip.”

It took Jackieboy a moment to process the words before he pried his hand away from the doctor’s, nodding minutely. “M’kay…”

Propping the hero up so he could swallow the medicine was a struggle, but once Jackie got the first taste of water, he downed half the bottle in a matter of seconds. Schneep would have scolded him for drinking too much too fast, but he hadn’t had any food or fluids in hours, so it could only be expected. Once he was finished, Jackie sagged lower, coughing weakly. Hazily he did his best to track Schneep’s movements as he made the walk back to the other side of the bed, settling into his previous place.

“You should have more pillows, keep yourself up so you can breathe,” Schneep observed after a moment or two, sliding his own a few inches closer to Jackie’s expectantly. Jackie groaned in the negative, nuzzling further into his pillowcase.

“Too much effort,” he slurred, to which Schneep tsked lightly and scooted closer, surprised him by moving a supportive hand underneath his head and lifting it just enough that he could tuck the second pillow underneath.

“It wouldn’t do for you to not breathe, now, would it?” the doctor questioned ruefully as his friend relaxed, his breaths improving already. Now that he didn’t have a pillow of his own, he intended to move to the desk chair nearby, but as soon as he shifted away, an arm was flung over his side to keep him where he was—no, never mind, it was dragging him closer. “Wh—Jackie, you are going to get _me_ sick now,” he protested, though in his surprise he didn’t offer too much resistance as the older Ego pressed his face into his shirt.

“Warm…” he mumbled, twisting Schneep’s shirt up into his fingers as he had the bedspread not too long ago. This wasn’t out of tension, however; if anything, it only made him more comfortable.

Though his hand fell slack just a few minutes later, Schneep didn’t dare to move as he deduced that he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere without waking him. Judging by the quiet snores vibrating against his chest, he really _was_ resting this time; to rouse him now would be cruel, and in his heart Schneep knew that if their roles were reversed, the other would gladly sacrifice his personal space to make sure he rested and healed.

“Okay, Jackie,” he relented softly, relaxing inch by inch and leaning his head against the side of the pillows as best he could before he let his eyes close. “Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, I'm sick again, and while I did consider making Schneep the one to suffer through it with me, I figured Jackieboy ought to have a turn. Sorry, Jackie ^^"
> 
> That said, I hope you enjoyed! Leave a kudos or a comment to tell me what you thought; I'd love to hear from you!


End file.
